A strip mill can be provided in a two-high, four-high or six-high arrangement in common constructions utilizing, respectively, a pair of working rolls alone, a pair of working rolls braced by a pair of backup rolls directly, or a pair of working rolls braced by a pair of backup rolls through the intermediary of intermediate rolls.
In general, such strip mills also include strip deflectors disposed both at the inlet and outlet sides of the rolling gap or nip between the working rolls, spray devices for directing cooling liquid sprays onto the working rolls, rolled-strip lifting devices or lifters, withdrawal rails and rolled strip guide tables.
Up to now, the deflectors, the spray devices, the rolled-strip lifters, the withdrawal rails and the roll strip guide tables, which are especially required for four-high reversing mills or six-high reversing mills or for transformation of a four-high reversing mill to a six-high reversing mill and with working roll diameters of 160/140 mm, have been largely provided externally of the mill frame or stand in a plurality of independent structures at both the inlet and outlet sides of the mill.
These elements located externally of the mill obviously require considerable space in the vicinity of the mill which may not always be available and also are not readily accessible so that they are difficult to maintain and service.
As a practical matter, therefore, such elements may not be provided even though they may be highly advantageous or desirable in many strip mills, especially where the larger mill stands and larger diameter working rolls are employed.